FIRST LEGO League is a fun, exciting opportunity for our students to engage in hands-on STEM learning. LEGO League team members gain real-world problem-solving experiences through a guided robotics program. Youth are inspired to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding and design skills throughout the season.
August-November: FIRST LEGO League Challenge Season
Most FLL Challenge Teams in Mesa County are based in schools with teachers or staff members serving as coaches. However, there is no requirement that a school needs to be associated with a team.
Form a Team
Teams are required to have two adult coaches (over 18). Each coach will need to pass a Youth Protection Screening (even those already screened as teachers). There is no experience required to coach.
If you are a D51 employee, you may be eligible to earn a stipend to coach a team. Apply here. (You cannot earn the stipend without filling out the form.)
Hold an informational meeting at your school. Teams may be of mixed age in grades 4-8. FIRST Inspires limits the number of students to 10 per team. There is no limit on the number of teams a school may have.
Registration: a two-step process
Teams must register nationally with FIRST Inspires and locally with D51 STEM to participate in the Qualifier Tournament.
August: Register your team nationally on the FIRST Inspires website to acquire an official team number, order the yearly Challenge Set, and access the yearly Challenge Documents.
Please follow the steps in this video tutorial if you are new to registering a team.
October: Event Registration allows you to register for our local tournament. Look for information from robotics@d51schools.org or Colorado FIRST in the weeks leading up to our tournament.
Team Meetings
Each team sets their own schedule. Typically teams meet 1-2 days a week for 1-2 hours from August until the tournament in November.
Coaches will have (optional) season materials to use at team meetings including
Each year the details of the yearly FIRST LEGO League theme are released in August.
FIRST LEGO League Explore is a hands-on program designed to inspire, excite, and introduce kids ages 6 to 10 to the wonders of science, technology, and engineering in teams of up to six children. This program features a real-world challenge explored through research, critical thinking, and imagination. Guided by adult coaches and the FIRST Core Values, team members work with LEGO elements and motorized parts to build ideas and concepts and present them for review. FIRST LEGO League Explore:
FIRST LEGO League Explore is a hands-on program designed to inspire, excite, and introduce kids ages 6 to 10 to the wonders of science, technology, and engineering in teams of up to six children. This program features a real-world challenge explored through research, critical thinking, and imagination. Guided by adult coaches and the FIRST Core Values, team members work with LEGO elements and motorized parts to build ideas and concepts and present them for review. FIRST LEGO League Explore:
Teaches the benefits of teamwork
Sparks initial interest in science and technology
Introduces basic design skills through a hands-on approach with the familiarity and fun of LEGO building; and
Provides a culture of sharing and learning from others
The culmination of the hard work for many teams is the participation in a FIRST LEGO League Explore event. Volunteer Reviewers at the event interview teams to learn about their LEGO Model and Show Me poster. All the teams are celebrated and leave with an award. While participation in an event is not a requirement, we strongly encourage teams to attend this impactful experience.
Most FLL Explore Teams in Mesa County are based in schools with teachers or staff members serving as coaches. However, there is no requirement that a school needs to be associated with a team.
Form a Team
Teams are required to have two adult coaches (over 18). Each coach will need to pass a Youth Protection Screening (even those already screened as teachers). There is no experience required to coach.
If you are a D51 employee, you may be eligible to earn a stipend to coach a team. Apply here. (You cannot earn the stipend without filling out the form.)
Hold an informational meeting at your school. Teams may be of mixed age in grades 2-4. FIRST Inspires limits the number of students to 6 per team. There is no limit on the number of teams a school may have.
Registration: a two-step process
Teams must register nationally with FIRST Inspires.
December: Registration opens and fee will include the season kit.
January:Parents begin registering students on the FIRST Website and coaches register their teams.
Look for information from robotics@d51schools.org or Colorado FIRST in the weeks leading up to our festival.
Team Meetings
Each team sets their own schedule. Typically teams meet 1-2 days a week for 1-2 hours from January until the festival in April.
Coaches will have season materials to use at team meetings including